Ohio's largest counties sending fewer to prison

Thursday

Oct 24, 2013 at 12:06 PM

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ohio's largest counties are sending fewer people to prison than a decade ago, reflecting more sentencing options and lower crime rates.

An analysis of state prison records posted Thursday by The Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/18OpntE ) showed that the number of people sent to prison from the state's largest county, Cuyahoga, home to Cleveland, in fiscal year 2013 was down 38 percent from 2003.

The number declined 16 percent in Franklin County and Columbus, 19 percent in Hamilton County and Cincinnati, 33 percent in Lucas County and Toledo, 6 percent in Montgomery County and Dayton and 18 percent in Summit County and Akron.

Officials in Cuyahoga County attributed the decrease to factors including more sentencing options for low-level felons, a fall in the overall crime rate and a declining crack-cocaine epidemic that crowded prisons.

Officials say those being sent to prison now are the most violent and troubled felons.

State prison officials have paid Cuyahoga County $200,000 a year since 2011 to house short-term, low-level offenders in the county jail, according to state records. That diverts hundreds of inmates a year from state prisons.

The big-city shift was offset by smaller counties sending more inmates to state prisons than they did in 2003.

Excluding the six largest counties, judges in the other 82 counties sent more than 53 percent of all inmates -- or 10,956 -- to Ohio prisons in fiscal 2013, according to the analysis.

Ten years ago, those 82 counties sent less than 43 percent, or 9,666 inmates. The increase in the number of inmates marked a 13 percent jump between 2003 and 2013.